West Chester vs Jefferson
Game Details: November 20 I 6 P.M.
Location: Hollinger Field House (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Series: 13-14
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Jefferson Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester was back in action on Saturday in its home opener against CACC rival Wilmington. After dropping the last two meetings and three of the last four against the Wildcats, West Chester raced out to an early lead on 56.8 % shooting in the first half and never wavered, leading by as many as 23 late in the second half en route to a 92-78 victory over Wilmington in its home opener. Elijah Allen (Dover, Del./Dover) scored a season-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including four makes from beyond the arc, while Darrius Phillips (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Seton Hall Prep) scored a career-high 10 as the other Golden Ram in double figures.
Flock Talk
Allen’s 25-point effort was his second 20+-point outburst of the year after scoring 20 points in the season opener at West Liberty. In doing so, Allen is now averaging 18.0 points per game, while Davante Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Red Lion), who led the team in rebounding on Saturday with 10 and leads on the year, averaging 7.0 per game, is second in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game.
West Chester enters play on Wednesday night as a team, averaging 83.7 points per game on 38.4 % shooting from the field and 29.2 % from three-point territory while also shooting 69.3 % at the line on the year. The Golden Rams opponents are averaging 93.3 points per game on 49.7 % shooting from the field and 33.3 % from three-point range while also making 77 free throws on 104 attempts (74.0 %), two more makes than WCU has attempted this season.
Home Sweet Hollinger
After Saturday night’s victory, West Chester is now 47-14 in Hollinger, dating back to the 2019-20 season.
Hello Mr. Phillips
Phillips had an excellent night on Saturday, finishing with a career-high 10 points and six rebounds in the victory over Wilmington. Phillips has stepped into a larger role in 2024-25 after seeing very limited minutes off the bench in 2023-24. The sophomore also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the second game of the season vs Wheeling.
Stop the Run
Jefferson looks for its fifth win in five tries to open the 2024-25 season this evening. If the Rams are successful, it will be the first time they have started the year 5-0 since 1994, when they rattled off 15 in a row to open the year, including a 74-65 victory over WCU when Coach Blair was a senior at WCU.
Crashing the Glass
WCU is tied for second in Division II in rebounding, averaging 48.0 rebounds per game, thanks in part to a DII-Best 23.3 offensive rebounds per game. West Chester is also 12th in DII in rebounding margin and leads the PSAC rebounding and offensive rebounding while ranking second in rebounding margin.
The Second Unit
Through an admittedly small sample size, West Chester is first in the PSAC and 15th in DII in points off the bench, averaging 39.0 points per game.
Series History
The all-time series between West Chester and Jefferson (previously PhilaU/Phila Textile) can be traced back to 1963 when the series began with a 72-60 Jefferson victory over the Golden Rams. This series-opening victory was the lone meeting between the two teams until now when legendary head coach Herb Magee was not at the helm of the Rams. West Chester enters play with a record of 13-14 in the all-time series after a six-game winning streak in the late 1990s and splitting its last four meetings, including a 97-92 setback in November 2014. Today's matchup will be third-year head coach Jimmy Reilly's first regular-season battle against head coach Damien Blair's Golden Rams.
Scouting Jefferson
Jefferson enters play on Wednesday looking to remain unbeaten and move to 5-0 for the first time since 1994 when the Rams won 15 in a row, including a 74-65 victory over West Chester in Hollinger Field House.
Jefferson improved to 4-0 on Saturday afternoon with a high-scoring 102-98 victory over Millersville, marking the Rams second win over a PSAC East opponent in as many games after defeating Kutztown earlier in the week. The lead changed hands 10 times, and the game was tied six times, but it was a 57-52 halftime lead, which proved important for the Rams in the four-point victory. Ashton Miller scored a career-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting (5-for-9 3-PT), along with six rebounds and five steals as one of four Rams in double figures. Justin Hawkins added 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Farouk Kaba and Sean Fullerton finished with 18 and 11, respectively.
Averaging 84.3 points per game on 54.5 % shooting from the field and 44.3 % from beyond the arc, the Rams are a dangerous offensive unit that West Chester must be at its best defensively to stop. After his 34-point effort, Miller leads the team in points, averaging 22.5 per game, while Hawkins is second, averaging 17.0, along with 14.0 per game from Kaba and 13.3 from Jeremiah Dorsey. Miller also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game, while the Rams average just 29.5 rebounds per contest.
